Broker Peter John Mason, of the Brisbane suburb of Morningside, has been committed to stand trial over 31 counts of fraud involving premiums paid by clients of brokerage Allstate Insurance.

Mr Mason, who was a director of the company, has been granted bail.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleges that between May and November 2001 Allstate failed to forward clients’ premiums to underwriters. Some of the policies were cancelled by underwriters for non-payment.

Allstate also went into voluntary administration in January 2002 after ASIC alerted about 740 clients of the situation. The company went into liquidation the next month.